The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
Typically, cannabis plants grow in a bush configuration, which often includes intertwined stems with leaves and buds. The stems of the cannabis plant do not contain the consumable portion of the cannabis plant. Therefore, when harvesting the cannabis plant, the leaves and buds are separated from the undesirable stems. Conventional manual processes for the separating step include holding the stem with one hand while simultaneously pulling off the leaves and buds with the opposite hand or cutting the buds from the stem with scissors.
Generally, cannabis plants can be harvested and processed to obtain numerous kinds of chemical compounds used in medical products. The compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can be extracted from cannabis plants. In particular, THC can be obtained by refining micron-sized outgrowths on the cannabis plant called trichomes. Trichomes may vary in size (e.g., between 60 to 200 microns).
Generally, the pollen and trichomes harvested from cannabis plant is a fine to coarse powder containing the micro gametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen and trichomes grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement between the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the female cone of coniferous plants. When pollen and trichomes lands on a compatible pistil of flowering plants, it germinates and produces a pollen and trichomes tube that transfers the sperm to the ovule of a receptive ovary.
Consequently, the individual pollen and trichomes grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail. For cannabis pollen and trichomes, once the male cannabis plants begin to flower, the pollen and trichomes can be harvested. If the female plant is feminizing its seeds, the pollen and trichomes can also be harvested. For example, as soon as the pollen and trichomes sacs begin cracking on the marijuana plant as if to open, the pollen and trichomes is ready for harvesting
Other proposals have involved systems for harvesting cannabis plants. The problem with these harvesting systems is that they are not easy to manually agitate or carry to the cannabis plant or field. Also, the sieves are not stacked in a graduated arrangement, so as to optimize space in the harvesting vehicle carrying the sieve panels. Even though the above cited systems for harvesting cannabis plants meet some of the needs of the market, a mobile sieving apparatus and method for harvesting cannabis pollen and trichomes that separates flowers, trimmings, pollen, and trichomes of a cannabis plant with sequential sieving through a stacked arrangement of graduated sieved panels arranged by graduated separation, and a harvesting panel that collects the pollen and trichomes that pass through all the sieved panels; and further carries the panels in a harvesting vehicle that is lightweight to enhance agitation and mobility, is still desired.